Batman Beyond: Volume 2
by Nomad88
Summary: Terry McGinnis, The Dark Knight of Tomorrow heads into his third year behind the cowl, follow along as he and his allies struggle to defend Neo-Gotham City from: Owl, Jokers, Mobsters, Assassins, Hunters and an assortment of other crazies. Things are gonna get bloody.
1. Prologue: The Winter of Discontent

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT in any form or fashion own these characters. All credit goes directly to DC entertainment and DC comics. They are the owners not me, I'm in no shape or form making any money off of this story. Alright, let's get on with the show.**

 **WELCOME BACK READERS! I am Nomad88 and I'm here to say that we've finally made it to the next volume of my ever expanding Batman Beyond Universe. All of you loyal readers out there have sat through my bridge story to get to the piece de resistance that is Vol 2. I promised that things would be turned up to 11 and then kicked up to 60 and I plan to keep that promise. I'm bringing the epic with this story so I hope all of you are ready.**

 **For new readers, I suggest you go back and read volume 1 and then Neo-Gotham Knights before jumping in or if you just like to live dangerously, go ahead and dive in but there will be some confusing parts because there is some background covered in the other two stories. Anyway enough of my talking time to get to the story; before I go I would just like to say….please READ, REVIEW (A writer's main source of motivation) and of course ENJOY!**

* * *

 **Prologue: The Winter of Discontent**

 **Two Months Later- Neo-Gotham City- Wayne Manor- Batcave**

 **Damian Wayne** linked his fingers together while putting a contemplative look upon his face as he stared at a picture of Lincoln March displayed on the Bat-Computer. He studied the man's face intently and had been ever since their meeting two months ago at Rupert Thorne's Gala. The man had consumed Damian's every single thought as did Lincoln's for mayor There was something about him that was off, he couldn't exactly place it but he knew that there was more to him than he was letting on, but not only that there was something familiar in his face.

"Just who are you?" Damian whispered to himself.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say that you got a crush on that guy." Came a voice from behind him.

Damian rolled his eyes as he turned away from the screen to face his protégé of sorts **Terry McGinnis**.

* * *

Terry was now twenty one years old and he had changed a good deal in the three years he'd been training with Damian and Yinn. He had grown a few inches and had packed on muscle giving him a more broad shouldered build instead of the lean skinny look he had three years prior. He had cut his hair into a more stylish short shape which not only made him look more professional but it helped to make his mask fit better on his head. He still acted the same in some areas but for the most part he had grown more mature as he took his role as Batman more seriously.

* * *

Damian stood from the chair.

"What are you doing here McGinnis? I thought you had school."

"I do, but not until about four o'clock. My first class got canceled so I got a break in-between. I still can't believe you made me switch from kinesiology to business."

"You need something that will actually be useful in life McGinnis. Kinesiology is pointless in the real world."

"That's your opinion." Terry challenged.

"Which means it's the right opinion. I still can't understand why you haven't gotten that through your thick skull. I'm always right."

"Whatever." Terry responded before looking past him and at the screen again "So what's your deal with this guy? You've been spending an awful lot of time doing research and surveillance on him. Is he a criminal or something? I haven't seen him in any of the mob meetings which are becoming more frequent by the way."

"That's to be expected. You've…we've been hammering them hard for the better part of three years. They're becoming desperate and desperate people do desperate things. They'll make one wrong move and we'll sweep in and take em all down."

"I know the plan Damian but that doesn't answer my question. Why are you so interested in this Lincoln March character?"

* * *

Damian scrunched his face up a little.

"…..I don't know alright." He said after a long second, "There's something about him that makes my skin crawl in a way that I haven't felt in a long time. There is something seriously off about him."

Terry moved away from him and towards the computer.

"Have you analyzed the surveillance footage yet?" he asked.

"McGinnis, I thought you were passed the point of asking stupid question." Said Damian in a condescending tone of voice, "Of course I've analyzed the surveillance footage. I've analyzed it a dozen times but so far nothing out of place has turned up but….but it's almost as if he knows I'm watching."

"So maybe I need to take a closer look for you." Terry offered.

"No. You keep your mind on the task at hand and once I find out more I'll let you know what to do next."

"Whatever you say." Terry replied while squinting a little as he inspected the picture of Lincoln March.

* * *

Damian checked his watch and when he noticed the time he briefly looked around the cave and found it odd that Yinn wasn't around.

"Where is Yinn?" he asked

"I gave him the day off." Terry answered.

"YOU WHAT!?" Damian shouted "What the hell possessed you to do that!?"

"Oh, I don't know maybe a little something called common human decency." Terry returned as he glanced over his shoulder "You've been so wrapped up in this March guy that you've failed to notice how distraught Yinn has been lately. I don't know what's eating him but I'm sure he'll tell us when he's ready. In the mean time though I'll be your escort."

"The term you're searching for is chauffeur, not escort McGinnis."

"What are you my English teacher? The point is I'm driving your grumpy ass around today, and we need to be leaving now if we're gonna make it to you press conference on time."

* * *

Damian nodded his head but his thoughts quickly drifted away from the Wayne Enterprises press conference and to his faithful partner and friend Yinn. He hated to admit when Terry was right but lately his thoughts have been preoccupied to the point where he had regrettably missed a few signals.

' _I'll deal with Yinn when I get back.'_ He thought to himself while turning and heading towards the spiraling steps that would take him to the upper levels and out of the cave.

"Come along McGinnis, I don't want to be late."

Terry looked away from the computer and hurried after Damian.

"Have you noticed that when you squint your eyes you kinda look like that Lincoln March guy?" He said in an offhanded manor.

* * *

 **Ten Minutes Later- In the Air**

Terry drove the silver and black limo through the snowy morning air, but it was proving to be a bit difficult considering how heavy the snow was falling, so he made the car dip downward and land on the street.

"Hey, we're gonna have to take the scenic route, but we should still get there on time." He said while looking into the rear view mirror and catching Damian's eyes, "It's really coming down."

"I hate winter." Damian said as he turned away and looked out the window.

"I don't mind it that much, but patrol tonight is gonna be a bitch."

"I meant to tell you that I won't be holding your hand tonight when you go to Black Masks meeting tonight. I have a prior engagement."

"You mean you have a date." Terry corrected.

Damian went silent for a moment which only made Terry chuckle.

"I bet you're wondering how I know, well a good detective never reveals his sources."

"The saying is that a good reporter never reveals their sources."

"Speaking of reporters, do you really think it's a good idea to go out with one? I've checked out this Veronica Vale and she's no pushover. She's good at getting to the bottom of things and after what she threw in your face that time she came to the mansion, all common sense should be telling you to stay away."

"Let me worry about Ms. Vale." Damian said in a tired tone, "You just need to worry about tonight and do be careful, because for some reason winter for Batman has always been a season of discontent."

* * *

 **Minutes Later: Wayne Enterprises- Conference Room- 8:30am**

 **Veronica Vale** , shoved her way to the front of the crowd of reporters that were gathered around the podium each talking to their respective camera man. She helped her own cameraman to the front and she quickly took her position with her recorder. All of them were eagerly waiting for Damian Wayne's sudden press conference about the future of Wayne Enterprises which had been formerly known as Wayne/Powers just three years ago.

"Did you really didn't think you'd scoop me Vale?" came a voice that she knew all too well.

Veronica glanced to her left to see her co-worker and rival **Eddie Knox** , standing there with his own recorder and cameraman at the ready. She rolled her eyes at the sight of him and then looked towards the entrance to see if Damian had arrived but to her dismay he hadn't.

* * *

"To be honest Eddie, I haven't given you much thought." She said with a smirk.

Eddie put a hand to his heart.

"Ouch." He feigned "That's alright, I may not be in your thoughts now but once we have our date you won't be able to stop thinking about me."

"It's been three years, since we made that bet."

"And neither of us has gotten to the bottom of the mystery that is Damian Wayne. So the bet is still on beautiful."

"Not for long, because I'm gonna crack this story wide open."

"What makes you so sure?" He asked.

"Mr. Wayne and I have a date tonight." She said confidently.

* * *

Eddie recoiled in shock but before he could respond the conference hall erupted with voices.

"MR. WAYNE! MR. WAYNE! MR. WAYNE!" came several shouts from the other reporters. Eddie and Veronica looked towards the door to see Damian Wayne heading down the middle of the isle and towards the podium.

* * *

 **At the Podium**

"Thank you, Thank you all for coming. I know this press conference is a bit sudden but I'm just too excited to keep this bit of news under wraps for too much longer. As many of you are well aware, I have recently reclaimed majority control of Wayne Enterprises which was formally known as Wayne/Powers, it's no mystery as to why I've chosen to take the name Powers from the company name, but that's firmly in the past. Wayne Enterprises, since its inception has been and will always be a company dedicated to bringing the future to Gotham City and that's why as of today Wayne Enterprises is proudly bringing you this re-imagined version of Neo-Gotham City that I like to call….. **GOTHTOPIA.** "

* * *

The Wayne Enterprises logo in the center of the wooden podium glowed a bluish hue and from the logo a holographic 3D image of the new and improved Neo-Gotham City hovered above them all in a grand spectacle. The reporters down below gasped and murmured in awe at the sight of the sleek new buildings, new transit systems and new roads that hovered above them.

* * *

"Gothtopia, is a twelve step project to rebuild or more accurately put revitalize Neo-Gotham City from the ground up, from its lowest foundation to its highest skyscraper. This project is essentially a complete reboot of the entire city. We're going to tear down the dilapidated buildings left over from Old Gotham and rebuild them. We're going to rebuild the slums with fresh new housings which will hopefully create new business which means new jobs and new opportunities for the people that live in that area. We're going to restructure all of the old and outdated buildings here in central Gotham as well as retool the Gothic architecture that has represented our city for so long. The new transit system will stretch all across Neo-Gotham instead of just here in the heart of the city. All of this will be done in the name of progression because it's past time for a new image within Gotham and Wayne Enterprises is going to be ushering in this new era."

"WHY NOW!? WHAT'S THE TRUE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT? WHAT DOES THE MAYOR THINK!?"

* * *

Damian held up his hand.

"I'm sure that all of you have questions and I will answer each and every one of them in the coming months. As I said this is a twelve step project and the first step is to get the pulse of the public. I'm eager to hear what everyone thinks about this new plan for the city that we all love. Thank you all for coming."

* * *

 **Outside Wayne Enterprises building**

Terry pulled his jacket a little closer to his body and blew out a breath of cold air as he leaned against the trunk of the car. He didn't go inside to hear the big reveal mostly because he already knew what it was going to be and the name it went by. Terry smirked a little at the thought of Gothtopia, Damian's big idea to rebuild Neo-Gotham City, at least that's half of what he was telling the public. The plan was to really rebuild Gotham but also update their operation.

In the past Gotham was filled with secret pathways and exits throughout the city that Batman took advantage of but in the years since they've become corroded or dilapidated or caved in and needed to be rebuilt, however not only that but the city had changed and so they had to change with it and Gothtopia was that change.

' _It's a good idea but it is a terrible name. It's not schway enough.'_ Terry thought to himself.

* * *

A shiver ran through his spine as he stood in the cold but the cold left his thoughts as he looked to the entrance to see the new mayoral candidate **Lincoln March** stepping out of the building. The powerful business man had a frown upon his handsome face but it quickly vanished and his eyes were shielded by a pair of black shades. He swiftly made his way down the stairs and to an awaiting limo a few cars ahead. Terry watched him go with a careful eye.

Lincoln reached the limo but for a brief moment he stopped at the back-door and turned to look at him. Terry and Lincoln spent a good long moment staring at the other, neither blinking nor looking away. When the moment passed Lincoln got in the limo and it drove away.

"Well that wasn't strange at all." Terry whispered as another shiver ran through his spine however this time it had nothing to do with the cold weather.

* * *

 **Few Seconds Later**

Damian briskly made his way out of the building, down the steps and towards Terry.

"Let's go before the press catch up." He said.

"I just saw your buddy Lincoln March."

"March was here?" Damian questioned "I didn't see him in there."

"Well he walked out of the building and he didn't look too happy with your Gothtopia plan"

"I wouldn't think so, I'm basically moving in on his territory. Lincoln March, is CEO of March Ventures and his company has had complete control of Gotham's infrastructure for years. Gothtopia is basically a hostile take over."

"You really have it in for this guy."

"I want to see how he handles pressure. If he's really shady we'll find out soon enough." "You mean I'll find out right."

"Just get in the damn car." Damian replied as he opened the door and got into the limo.

* * *

 **Elsewhere- Gordon-Young Household**

Carrie Kelley looked at herself in the mirror and slightly adjusted the tie to her school uniform; gone were the studs in her eyebrow, nose, lip and ears as well as the ripped jeans and sweater. She now had a face with minimal make-up and a preparatory uniform that all teenage girls and guys wore at Neo-Gotham Preparatory High School. She grunted a little as a look of disgust appeared on her face.

"I hate this monkey suit." She said to herself.

"I think you look like a scholar." Came a voice.

* * *

Carrie turned around to see both Sam and Barbara standing at the door looking at her. She smiled a little bit and looked at herself in the mirror again.

"Yeah, the two of you would think that." She commented.

"Are you finished because it's almost time for me to drop you off at school." Said Barbara.

"Yeah I'm done." Carrie replied while reaching down to grab her book-bag and hoist it onto her shoulder. She turned to face her _'foster'_ parents of sorts and smiled, "Let's go."

* * *

 **On the Road**

Carrie looked out of the window and at the snow that fell down to the ground and she let a small smile grace her lips.

"I've always liked the snow. I don't know if I ever told you that."

Barbara glanced at Carrie out the corner of her eyes.

"No. You didn't." Barbara replied "Actually you really didn't tell us much the last time you were our guest nor have you said much of anything this time."

"….look Barbara. I know I owe you an explanation and you and Sam…the Mayor have been really chill about not asking me any questions these past two months. I appreciate that and I appreciate you giving me another chance, not many people would do that."

"I know Carrie."

* * *

Barbara turned a corner and came to a halt in front of Neo-Gotham's Preparatory School. Carrie spent a second looking at all of the normal teens her age walking through the snow and the gates and towards the entrance.

"Carrie."

She turned to Barbara.

"Sam and I have been patient but eventually you'll have to tell us where you've been for the past four years, but if I had to guess. I would say it's been with your mother. I saw the bruises when you…."

"I'm gonna be late for class." Carrie interrupted as she abruptly got out of the car. She gently closed the door and she started for the gates. Barbara watched her go with a solemn expression plastered on her face.

* * *

 **Later- Night-9:15pm Across Town- Hamilton University**

Dana Tan made her way back to her dorm room completely exhausted from another day of nothing but studying medical terminology and scenarios she may face in the real world as a heart surgeon. She let out a loud yawn and turned the corner only to stop in her tracks.

"Oh My God." She whispered in shock as she saw a person she hadn't seen in a long time standing at her dorm room door.

"Finally, I was just about to leave." Came the feminine voice.

Dana let a smile grace her lips as she made her way over to **Chelsea Cunningham**.

* * *

Chelsea was a beautiful blonde haired young woman that was same age and about the same height as Dana. She had a curvy build that was covered by a light blue coat, black pants and white boots.

* * *

Dana rushed over to Chelsea and they hugged each other tightly

"Oh My God, it's really you!" Dana exclaimed.

"You thought I forgot about you and the others no way." Chelsea responded.

"How was Europe? How's the Modeling gig going? How's…."

"Whoa. One question at a time." said Chelsea

* * *

Dana smiled.

"Sorry, I'm just so happy to see you. Oh my God, wait till Blade, Nelson, Max and Terry see you."

"Wait, McGinnis is out of lock up?" Chelsea questioned.

"Yeah, three years running…so far. He's a good boy now."

"Are you and he…"

"Yeah we're back together and he's changed, mostly."

"Damn. He's cute and I really liked him and that bad wild side, but I'm sure his good side looks cute too."

Dana lightly shoved her which only earned a chuckle.

"We have a ton of catching up to do." said Chelsea.

"That's an understatement. Hey, come on let's go round up the gang and make a night of it. There's this schway club not too far away."

"Awesome, sounds like a plan." Chelsea replied.

"Max's dorm is the closest so let's go."

* * *

 **Old Wayne Tower Observatory- Top Floor- Dining hall**

Damian poured himself a little more champagne as he patiently waited for Veronica Vale to arrive for their date. He took a sip and he looked around the top floor dining room and at the other people that were sitting and conversing amongst themselves. Long before Wayne-Powers, Wayne Tower was one of the central hubs for Wayne Enterprises and the top floor observatory deck was open to the public for everyone look out and into the beautiful city that was Gotham; however as time moved on and Bruce lost more control of the company the observatory floor was turned into a high class dining hall reserved only for those that could afford it.

Damian looked at all of them and he rolled his eyes.

' _Keep eating and talking because pretty soon I'll be turning this place back to what it was originally intended for….one last gift for you Bruce.'_ He thought to himself as he took another sip of his champagne.

* * *

A low rumbling murmur sounded through the dinning hall and it quickly caught Damian's attention. He turned towards the entrance to see that the cause of the murmuring was the sauntering form of Veronica Vale. She was wearing an elegant form hugging green dress with a dangerously low neckline. She had her red hair let down which touched her smooth bare shoulders and only the minimal of make-up which accentuated her natural beauty. Damian's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets before he put a cocky smirk upon his lips and rose from his seat.

' _Well tonight just got a bit more interesting'_ he thought to himself.

"I hope I'm not running too late." said Veronica.

Damian pulled her chair out for her.

"Actually, you're right on time Ms. Vale."

* * *

 **Elsewhere- Outside Roland Hotel**

 **Batman** stood on the roof of the Roland Hotel with his detective mode activated. He could see through the concrete down below and directly into the conference room. He could see several outlines and skeletons each belonging to a mob boss that controlled part of Neo-Gotham City and the surrounding cities just outside the county lines. The Dark Knight put two of his fingers down onto the roof and the sound vibrations from down below traveled upwards and into the electronics in his palm allowing him to hear the conversations loud and clear.

* * *

 **Roland-Conference Room**

"I TOLD YOU ALL THIS WOULD HAPPEN!" Rupert Thorne roared at the top of his lungs, "I TOLD YOU BATMAN WOULD BE THE DESTRUCTION OF US ALL!"

"I hate to admit it but the old geezer is right." Came Mario Falcone's frustrated voice, "That pointy eared freak has been detrimental to my business and if he keeps this up I won't have a f****** credit to my name."

"I don't know what you're complaining about Falcone, it's not like you had that big a piece of the pie anyway." Came the smooth response from Umberto Maroni

"What did you say!?" Mario exclaimed as he shot up from his spot.

"Enough!" Black Mask roared, which silenced everyone in the room.

* * *

The leader of their so called coalition linked his hands together and leaned back in his seat. He may have seemed calm and collected to some but anyone looking closely enough could tell that he too was frustrated with the Batman situation. The serious blue eyes looking through the mask, eyed the elderly Rupert Thorne. He hated the old geezer but he had to admit to himself that he and all the other who did not take his threat seriously were completely and utterly wrong.

He didn't think that one man could cause so much chaos but in the past three years Batman has proven he's no mere man, but something else entirely. After he destroyed a cargo ship full of weapon that he was smuggling into Neo-Gotham, Black Mask began to dig into the past and the history of Batman and Gotham and what he found made him regret not siding with Rupert even more. The gangster slowly stood from his spot and he surveyed his partners and competition.

* * *

"Thorne now is not the time for I told you so. You were right, fine, let's move on to how we're going to kill this sonuva bitch."

"You can't kill him now." Thorne returned "That's why I wanted us to band together three years ago, we could've snuffed him out then but now it's too late. Batman's got his hooks in this city now. I tried to reach out to a few of my contacts at the police department but the Bat has them running scared. They know we're being hit from all sides." He finished.

"So basically you got nothing." Falcone said curtly, "So much for being older and wiser."

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU LITTLE S*** STAIN!" Rupert yelled before breaking into a fit of long dry coughs.

Olivia helped him put his breathing mask over his nose.

"Just breathe." She said and he complied.

* * *

 **Outside**

Batman smirked at the sound of them all arguing over him; however his enjoyment was cut short when something in his detective mode caught his attention. The Roland-Hotel building was a high class upscale hotel, which was mostly inhabited by those that could afford to throw away money, cheating spouses and gangsters. The security was run by the gangsters as well which meant no one on the street was crazy enough to try and rob the hotel and so when one of the guards fell down to the ground dead it piqued his curiosity.

"The hell?" he questioned as several more guards around the building suddenly fell down dead.

* * *

Batman's detective mode picked up an incoming projectile coming from behind him and so without a second thought he rolled to the right and out of the path of a sharp metal knife that imbedded itself in the spot he was previously crouched.

He came out of the roll and was up looking around when through the heavily falling snow he saw four shadows descending from up above with their arms spread and gliding towards him.

* * *

They were decked out in black armor that looked similar to his own, each of them were armed to the teeth with knives around their waste, knives strapped in holsters on either side of chest and they had two swords secured to their backs but what the dark knight focused on were the bronzed colored mask on their faces. The eyes were large and tinted while the nose was bronzed and hooked.

They landed softly almost without a sound, only letting their rigid stances and menacing appearance do the talking. Batman lowered his head a bit, and he quickly activated detective mode once more but to his surprise he couldn't get a reading on who was underneath the armor or any weaknesses, the armor was able to block his vision. He deactivated it.

* * *

"Who the hell are you four supposed to be?" He demanded.

" **The Court of Owls have deemed you unfit for Gotham Batman**. **The talons** **are here to neutralize you.** " Came the eerie voice from one of the armored assassin's. They all removed one of their swords and brandished it dangerously.

Batman cracked his neck.

"Bring it!"

* * *

The talons moved swift as the wind. They charged through the snow and towards Batman who met them in the middle. He ducked under a swipe from one sword and used the fin on his right arm to block another; he lifted his foot to kick the Talon to the right of him however the armored fiend block his kick and quickly disengaged allowing the other two talons to charge in with their sword aimed for the Dark Knight's heart.

Batman used his fins again to block both attacks. He then jumped up and kneed one of them in the jaw sending him backwards. He flicked his wrist and produced two black and red batarangs that he held in a defensive stance.

A talon came in with a horizontal slash.

 **CLANG!** Went the sound of the batarang and sword clashing.

* * *

 **Roland Conference room**

"Did anything work in the past against the Bat?" Black Mask asked his question directed at Rupert.

The elderly man took a deep breath of fresh oxygen before answering.

"One night we came close to killing him. It was around Christmas Eve. About a week before, the original Black Mask gathered us together and we each pooled our money together and we put a bounty on Batman's head. One night. We offered Fifty million dollars to anyone, whether they be gangster, assassin, cop, or some drunk asshole…whoever felt like they had the stones to take out Batman and bring us his head. They had to do it on Christmas Eve….Black Mask, said something about it being an early Christmas present, but that night…..many came close to killing him, but in the end it wasn't enough."

"Then I suggest we do the same thing." Black Mask stated. "Christmas is around the corner, so we do the same thing but only instead of one night….it's a standing invitation, fifty million credits to whoever can kill Batman."

"F an A." Falcone said while nodding his head, "I'm in, even though fifty mil is a large price to pay but I'll do anything to get rid of this pointy eared bastard."

* * *

Rupert took another breath of oxygen.

"Hold on, there's something else you should know." He said slowly.

"What?"

"That night many came close to killing the Bat, but none came as close as one man. No, he wasn't a man but something else, he was an almost unspeakable evil. We unleashed him onto our streets just to kill Batman, and I've regretted that decision for most of my life. On that night…sixty something years ago Christmas Eve, it was the first night that **the Joker** made himself known."

"What's your point?" Black Mask asked.

* * *

Rupert shook his head.

"I forget that none of you have ever met the real Joker. My point is this, if we open the door to evil, we have to be sure that we're ready for the consequences. Are we sure that there aren't anymore options."

"There aren't." Black Mask stated strongly "We're doing this. There are enough players on the table to where we only have to kick up about five to six mil a piece. We're putting out an open bounty on Batman's head. All of you spread the word."

 **POWWWWWW! POWWWWW! POWWWWWW!** Came the sound of gunfire.

* * *

"What the hell is that?" Black Mask asked while looking at the double doors to his conference room. The mobsters in the room stared at the double doors so intently that they didn't see the tall figure swooping in from the large window behind Black Mask.

 **CRASSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!**

* * *

Black Mask felt himself being knocked to the side and to the ground in a heap. The enforcers that had been on either side of him found daggers through their throats. The other gangsters in the room took in the sight of the large intimidating man that interrupted their meeting.

He was about six three, in an armored outfit that had several knives strapped on both sides of his chest with two swords strapped to his back. The figure was imposing however it was the mask over his face that drew the most attention. The ears, the glowing yellow lens where his eyes would be and the hooked bronzed nose, which made the mask resemble an owl.

 **BAMMMMMMMMMMMMM!** Came the sound of the double doors being kicked open and several more men and women dressed in similar clothing entering the conference room.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" Black Mask roared.

* * *

The tall and imposing figure looked them all over for a long tense moment before answering.

" **The Court of Owls has sentenced all of you to DEATH!"**

* * *

 **Up Above**

Batman continued to battle the talons that surrounded him.

"Who are Court of Owls?" he demanded before catching a downward sword strike in his palms and deftly disarming the talon that tried to skewer him.

He saw through his detective mode that there was a large black figure in the conference room and he was drawing a weapon. Batman curled his feet and suddenly took to the sky. He flicked his wrist and threw four electrified batarangs that nailed the four talons. The electricity stunned them, causing them to fall down to the snowy roof.

Batman flicked his wrist once more, producing more batarangs that he threw to the section of the roof over the figure in the conference room with the sword in hand.

 **DEET! DEET! DEET!** went the sound before the batarangs exploding in a grand fashion.

* * *

 **Conference room**

The tall Talon looked up to see a mass of rubble falling right for him.

 **THUDDDDDDD!** went the sound of the concrete falling on top of him.

* * *

Batman landed through the newly created hole and on top of the solid oak table. He looked around, spotting the mobsters as well as the Talons who were beginning to advance towards him.

"Prophet was right, winter is a season of discontent." He whispered as he put up his first readying for another fight.

* * *

 **Wayne-Observatory**

Damian smiled at the jest from the very beautiful and charming Veronica Vale. He took a slow sip of his wine and then pushed his empty plate away from him. Ever since she dropped-by the Mansion three years ago asking for his story and the questions about the inconsistencies in his records he's been keeping a close eye on her…perhaps too close an eye.

In the months proceeding that day he had been tailing her, and silently derailing her investigations. She was good. Veronica knew a lot of people who knew how to get information however their skills were nothing compared to his own….so far.

One of the reasons why he agreed to this date was to access how much she knew about him but she's been a little on guard and coy about what she actually knew however he was confident that she didn't know much. He made sure that no one truly knew everything about him.

* * *

Veronica took a sip of her own wine as well.

' _He's playing hard to_ get' she thought to herself _'He's been on his guard during this whole dinner. This was my last card to play. I can't believe that I haven't been able to find anything, and those inconsistencies have mysterious been cleared up. He's a slippery one. I don't get the sense that he's lying to me about being a Wayne but it's obvious that he's not telling the whole truth. So the question is…..what are you going to do Veronica? Exactly how far are you willing to go for the story of a lifetime.'_

Veronica was about to open her mouth when several gasp caught her and Damian's attention.

* * *

An almost giant of a man dressed in black armor, armed to the teeth with knives on either side of his chest and around his waist slowly stalked into the middle of the dinning hall. The mere sight of him sent fear cascading down everyone's spine but it was not so much his stature but the mask and the glowing yellow lenses over his face.

" **Damian Wayne!** " The mysterious man announced in a distorted and intimidating voice.

* * *

Damian quickly assessed the man and was prepared to take him out but there were too many witnesses as well as potential victims, if he made a move. The ex-vigilante/assassin reached towards his wrist and his watch. He turned the face of the watch clockwise and then once more counter-clockwise before slowly rising from his seat and stepping away from the table and Veronica.

' _McGinnis, you better hurry up. You should be finished with Black Mask and the others by now.'_

* * *

 **Elsewhere**

 **PING! PING! PING!** came the sound of an urgent warning flashing through Batman's vision.

Batman threw out a palm strike however he was then promptly kicked in the chest. He rolled to the left and out of the way of the Talon's that were swarming around him.

' _Damian's in trouble…..well he's not the only one! I'm sure he can handle himself for a little bit longer!'_ Batman exclaimed in his mind as he felt a knife graze his head.

* * *

 **Observatory**

"Whoever you are I'm sure we can…." Damian started before he ducked under a swipe from behind that was supposed to take his head off of his shoulders; he thrusted out a kick that nailed the single Talon assassin that was behind him in the gut.

' _I almost didn't hear him.'_ He thought to himself but it was then that he heard the whistling through the air.

Damian turned back to his attacker only to be hit in both shoulders, the left side of his abdomen and both legs with several of the knives that had been previously strapped the tall imposing figure.

"AH!" he gasped.

"SOMEONE CALL THE POLICE!" Veronica shrieked but it fell upon deaf ears.

* * *

The figure stopped at the table and he turned to Veronica who quickly picked up a steak knife off of the table and held it out at him defensively.

"WHO ARE YOU!?" she shouted.

" **Death to all those deemed unfit for life**."

* * *

"Who…Who do you work for?" Damian growled out in pain.

He turned his glowing yellow lens back to Damian and he cracked his neck.

" **The Court of Owls**." He said, " **And my masters have claimed your life**."

Damian had just enough time to see him quickly close the distance between them and landed a powerful, organ rattling side-kick. All the air exploded out of Damian's lungs as he was lifted up and sent flying through the glass window of the observatory and falling towards the cold snowy ground below.

* * *

 **End Chapter: Read and Review:** **Hey there readers it's me Nomad88 back with the first chapter in the highly anticipated second volume of my Batman Beyond Saga. I know that there was a bit of a wait but that was only so I could get a few bats in a row. LOL! That was a terrible joke wasn't it.**

 **Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter, the Prologue of sorts, and what did I tell ya, 0 to 60. What was supposed to be a regular night for Batman turned into a fight for his life by the mysterious Court of Owls, who as you all know are extremely dangerous.**

 **Damian got hit first but I can assure you he'll be around at least for now. This story will be very, highly unpredictable. So maybe someone you thought would survive….maybe they won't. In the first volume no one was expecting Bruce to die but he did so….no one is safe, (Cue evil laugh, that sounds a lot like the joker's)**

 **I want to thank everyone who has tuned back into this story and I hope that I can re-create the same magic that made Batman Beyond Volume 1 such a hit. I want to hear from everyone and what think about this chapter and the chapters after so please remember to review or if you like you can hit me up with a PM and I'll get back to you ASAP. This is Nomad88 saying later…**

 **Ps: Check my profile for updates on my other stories.**

 **Next up: The Court of Owls part 1**

* * *

 **Summary: Batman, Damian Wayne, Commissioner Gordon-Young and the rest of Neo-Gotham find themselves caught in the nest of the Court of Owls.**


	2. The Court of Owls Part One

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT in any form or fashion own these characters. All credit goes directly to DC entertainment and comics. They are the owners not me, I'm in no shape or form making any money off of this story. Alright, let's get on with the show.**

 **Hey there readers it's me Nomad88 coming back at'cha with another chapter in the awesome second volume of Batman Beyond. I hope everyone enjoyed the action packed prologue, which set up a few things, but now we can get into some real nitty gritty stuff. I hope you're all ready. I just want to say one last thing and that's please continue to READ, REVIEW (A writer's main source of motivation) and of course ENJOY!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Court of Owls part one**

 **Wayne Manor**

 **Yinn** , the mysterious and loyal friend to Damian and Terry sat on his knees in the barely lit room that he called his own. There were candles in a circle all around him, and the soft aroma they generated soothed his roaring emotions. He centered himself and tried to focus on something other than the flood of memories of a time long past but his mind kept bringing back to the days of his youth.

A gently breeze blew through the room and the semi-peaceful look upon his face turned to one of frustration. He slowly opened his eyes and glanced over his shoulder and to a figure that was standing behind him shrouded in darkness.

"I sense your dark presence Yanng."

" _As I knew you would_." The dark figure replied.

"Where are you?"

" _Far now, but soon I will be near_."

* * *

Yinn stood from his spot and turned to the shadowy figure behind him.

"And I….we will be ready."

" _It pains me that we fight dear brother. You should be ruling the world beside me. We are essentially immortal. This…disagreement is childish and stupid."_

"Good versus Evil is not childish or stupid. It is the only battle that matters, in the end."

" _In the End? Have you heard nothing I said, there is no end for us, we…."_ Yanng started before being interrupted.

"There will be an end for you!" Yinn spat, "I'll see to it myself and your dark magic and theatricality will not save you."

* * *

Yanng chuckled.

" _We shall see_." He whispered " _And a word of advice. When the time comes for….good versus evil, be sure to leave the children at home because if they interfere, I will kill them, you have my word. And you know I always keep my word_."

"My friends are not so easy to kill." Yinn returned, and as the words left his mouth the communicator on his wrist began to beep rapidly. The shrouded Yanng chuckled again.

" _You sure about that_." He said " _Your master is in trouble, be a good man-servant and wipe his bottom for him_."

"Go to hell."

Yanng started to laugh.

" _I do enjoy our talks, but alas, I must be leaving, so much to plan for but before I go dear brother. I just have this to say. Happy Birthday_."

Yinn watched as the shadowy figure receded into the shadows on the wall leaving him alone in the room once more.

* * *

 **Elsewhere: Wayne Observatory**

' _Shit!'_ Damian yelled in his mind as he fell through the freezing cold air. The wind and snow whipped against him, while pain radiated from his shoulders and all the way to the metal daggers jutting out of his shoulders, abdomen, and legs courtesy of the armored clad man that just kicked him out of the window.

Damian cracked open an eye and he quickly looked over his shoulder to see the ground coming closer and closer. He tried to move his arms but the daggers embedded in his shoulders made his movements sluggish.

' _Damn…that sonuva bitch got me good, he's definitely a pro, only a true assassin would aim for the shoulders.'_ He thought in his mind, _'I have to do something otherwise, I'm dead.'_

The ex-vigilante and assassin rolled over in the air and looked for something to grab onto and that's when he spotted a hideous looking gargoyle that was close to his path to the ground.

' _One shot. I pray I haven't reach terminal velocity..'_ He thought as he, with every ounce of willpower in his body reached out and grab onto the stone guardian.

* * *

 **POOOOOOOOOOP!** Damian felt and heard something pop but he made himself keep hold. He grunted and groaned to himself as he climbed up the statue and to the ledge where he let out a sigh of relief, which was until a wave of pain washed over him.

' _Close. That was too close for comfort. I've gotten a bit sloppy or perhaps I was just distracted. Ow. Damn, my shoulder is out of place and I'm bleeding pretty badly. Where the hell are you McGinnis?'_

* * *

 **Roland- Hotel**

Batman blocked two kicks but he missed the slash to the back from one of the talons that in behind him. The sword managed to pierce through his thick armor and catch his flesh. He let out a roar before whipping around with a hard back-fist that knocked the talon that cut him through the double doors.

 **BAMMMMM!**

"ALL OF YOU OUT!" he shouted before having to defend himself from the other talon assassins.

* * *

The mobsters eagerly clamored out of the conference room, all of them unanimously letting their sworn enemy handle the mysterious assassin's that tried to kill them seconds prior.

Black Mask came to a stop and he turned towards Batman who deflected a quick mid-ranged sword before delivering devastating uppercut to Talon in front of him.

"This changes nothing freak!" Black Mask yelled, "I'm still gonna kill you."

Batman briefly looked at him.

"You'll try, but just like these guys you don't stand a chance. NOW GO!"

Batman grabbed hold of a talon and used him to block a slash from a sword. He spun around and landed a spin kick to the face of the attacker coming in from his left. He continued to fight the highly trained Talons, doing his best to gain the upper hand but there were too many of them. He back-flipped along the long oak table landing at the head where Black Mask previously sat and next to the pile of concrete that trapped the hulking Talon, whom he assumed to be their leader.

The Talons surrounded him on the left, right and in the center, each silent and deadly and ready to skewer him with their swords that glinted in the moonlight from the hole above. He looked at them for a moment before turning the dial on his belt. The light around him refracted and he vanished from sight. For a moment the talons looked confused but the infra-red vision in there mask activated and they saw the Dark Knight clear as day.

* * *

Batman was getting ready to jump out of the window when he was tackled from behind by a talon who tried to stab him in the shoulder but thanks to the thick Kevlar woven padding in that area it managed to deflect it to a glancing slash. The sword tore some of the material but it didn't touch his flesh, which he was thankful. He elbowed the Talon in the eye shattering one of the eye sockets.

' _Damn they can see me!'_ Batman exclaimed in his mind.

He was suddenly swept off of his feet landing hard on the solid oak table cracking it slightly.

The electronics in the shoulder portion of his suit were damaged and so the cloaking camouflage sputtered out and deactivated, leaving him visible once again. Batman got to his feet in time to deflect a knife jab with his fin. He then grabbed the talon and head-butted him before throwing him into the group of talon's that were coming in from the left.

* * *

As Batman was battling the assassin's, the rubble that buried their hulking leader shuddered before tumbling off of the villain. The Talon leader's neck was broken but with a quick jerk, he fixed it.

 **KRACK!** Came the sound.

* * *

He turned to see his brethren fighting tooth and nail with Batman and even though they were many the Dark Knight was beginning to gain something of an upper hand. He reached towards his side and he removed two curved knives and he wordlessly charged forward.

Batman broke the jaw of the Talon assassin in front of him and he turned around in time to see the hulking Talon assassin spear him across the waist, sending the both of them through the broken window and spiraling down to the ground below.

* * *

 **In the Air**

Batman blocked a knife aimed for his throat and socked the assassin in the face. He tried to spread his wings and glide away when the Talon jammed one of his curved knives through the wing under his right arm. He dragged the sharp and sturdy knife through the material shredding it into tatters and making Batman's glide at an awkward off-balanced pattern.

"GET OFF ME DREG!" Batman shouted as he pried himself free and kicked the assassin in the face which completely separated the two of them. When the added weight had lifted he managed to make it to the ledge of the building next to the Roland Hotel. He held on tightly with his left and thrusted out his right hand and fired a grappling hook from the top of his wrist that snagged the falling assassin, halting his descent.

The hulking Talon looked up at Batman and the grappling line that had a hold of him. He lifted the curved knife in his right hand and without a second thought sliced the grappling line sending him falling down below once more.

"NO!" Batman shouted.

* * *

 **Down Below**

The Talon assassin plummeted through the air striking several passing flying cars on his way down. Each strike breaking or crushing part of his body and armor. The Talon bounced off the windshield of a truck before finally crashing through the roof of a parked car.

 **RUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCHHHHHH!** Went the loud sound that scared many of the pedestrians that were standing by.

* * *

 **Up Above**

Batman hoisted himself up onto the ledge and he took a moment to catch his breath. He let out a few breaths of air before looking towards the window he fell through to see if the other talons were coming for him but to his surprise there was no one there. They had all vanished.

"Small miracles." He whispered to himself "Court of Owls." He continued as he stood up and gingerly cradled his shoulder. A loud scream caught his ears from down below.

Batman turned his attention down below where he could see movement from the metal tomb that held the assassin that tried to kill him. He tapped the side of his mask and it zoomed in closer and his eyes widen as he saw the broken and mangled Talon removing himself from the crumpled vehicle.

"Record." Batman stated as he continued to watch the assassin pull several metal debris spikes from his body and toss them to the ground. He then snapped his broken bones back into place before turning his glowing yellow lenses upward.

* * *

The Talon threw a smoke pellet that shrouded his escape from the prying eyes below and above.

"Stop." Batman stated as the recording featured in his cowl stopped. He returned his vision to normal and he sucked in a breath of air as the stinging pain from his back finally found its way to his attention, "Well that was weird. I mean weird even for me."

 **DEEEEEEETT!** Came the sound from the comm system in his ear.

" _Master McGinnis!"_

"Yinn? What's wrong?"  
 _"Master Wayne is trouble. You need to get to the Wayne-Observatory now. He's on the south side of the structure.. I'm getting a reading on some of his vitals and it appears he has suffered major blood loss."_

"I'm on it." Batman stated.

* * *

He reached towards the dial on his belt and he pressed the center piece. It only took a moment for the wind to kick up around him which signaled the arrival of the new and improved Batmobile.

It wasn't as bulky as the model that came before it but it was still as sturdy, it was sleek with jet black coloring and a hint of silver on the sides. It roared like a fighter jet as the thrusters pointed downward and hovered overhead.

Batman held up his wrist and fired another grappling hook at the bottom and repelled himself upwards and into the vehicle. He gripped the newly designed steering wheel and pulled the single lever and rocketed off towards the Wayne Observatory.

* * *

 **Observatory-Dinning Hall**

Detective Montoya Bullock stepped off the elevator and into the media circus that was the Wayne-Observatory dinning hall. She could see the rich socialites gathered together in front of the cameras. And she could see several officers setting up a crime scene around the window where they say Damian Wayne had been kicked through. Montoya replayed the call in her mind and she found it a bit unbelievable. A man in some type of armored suit stormed into the observatory dinning hall and killed Damian Wayne by kicking him out of a window. It seemed a bit straightforward however she found it to be odd that on her way in she didn't see any sign of a body on the ground.

"Detective!"

* * *

Montoya looked over to see Veronica Vale running towards her.

"Ah hell." She whispered to herself "I don't have a statement for you Vale."

"No, I don't want a statement I just want to know if Mr. Wayne is alive or dead."

"No comment." She says as she passes by the reporter.

"Goddammit! Talk to me!" Veronica yells.

Montoya let out a sigh and turned back to her.

"We don't know yet, there wasn't a body down below."

"No body?" Veronica questioned, "If there is no body then where the hell is he?"

* * *

 **Ledge**

Damian heaved and vomited some blood from his mouth, his vision then began to blur as the lights and sounds around him distorted, almost as if he was underwater.

' _What…what the hell.'_ He thought to himself weakly, he put a hand to his head as his mind began to work through what was happening to him, ' _My blood feels like it's boiling…oh f***, I've been poisoned. It's not the first time, and this poison…this is familiar in a way, but different.'_

Damian weakly reached towards his back pocket and he removed a tool-kit that he always kept on him. He opened it and removed an auto-injection pin labeled with the letter B and he jammed it in neck. It only took a few seconds before he was able to breathe a bit better but he could still feel the poison coursing through his veins.

' _Damn it McGinnis…..where….'_

* * *

In mid-thought the Batmobile uncloaked itself and silently turned towards the ledge. The top half opened revealing Batman.

"Come on, more cops are on the way." He said.

Damian clumsily stepped off of the ledge and tumbled into the batmobile. The top half closed and it re-cloaked itself just as a Neo-Gotham PD car flew into view and shined a light on the ledge Damian was previously sitting on.

* * *

 **Several Minutes Later-Bat-Cave**

Batman grunted as he hefted Damian out of the Batmobile and into the awaiting hands of Yinn who placed him on a hovering stretcher. Yinn got a glance at him and he carefully but quickly removed the daggers out of Damian's body, he was reading himself for spurting blood but to his surprise there was minimal bleeding.

"Thank heavens, no major artery was hit." Said Yinn, but it was then that a smell caught his attention. He looked at the daggers and brought it to his nose briefly before taking it away, "Poison." He grumbled.

Damian opened his eyes and grabbed Yinn by the arm.

"Tox…Toxin…B."

* * *

Yinn nodded his head and felt around Damian's pockets until he found the tool-kit. He looked at the empty auto-injector.

"What's he been poisoned with?" Terry asked as he removed his scuffed and cut mask from his face.

"I don't know specifically but Master Wayne has used his anti-toxin B injectior which means that this is a poison he's dealt with before."

"Does he need more?" Terry asked with pain evident in his voice.

"No. He needs an antidote. The anti-toxin is merely a band-aid, something to help him keep fighting."

"Well give him some of that magic juice, you got hidden on you. That lazarus stuff." Terry replied.

Yinn shook his head.

"No, the Lazarus in itself is a poison. The anti-toxin should keep him stable for now. He needs rest. And I need to tend to his wounds and yours as well. What happened to the two of you?"

"I don't know what happened to him, but I ran into a group of psychos calling themselves the Court of Owls."

"Who are the Court of Owls?"

* * *

 **Elsewhere- Location Unknown**

"That is the question isn't it?" Came a giddy playful voice " **Who** , is always the first question which is always followed by **What** , then **When** , and finally my personal favorite… **Why**? Hmm, questions, conundrums, mysteries and….."

"Enigmas!" a voice shouted.

* * *

Max shifted in her spot a little, trying to peer through the thick black sack over her face but failing to do so. She was scared but she had to remind herself that she was tough and to show it she blurted out what she had hoped was the next thing the mysterious giddy voice was about to say.

 **TAP! THUMP! TAP! THUMP! TAP! THUMP!** Came the sound of a cane and footsteps headed in her direction.

"What do we have here? It appears to be a very smart girl." said the voice.

There was a sound of whispering before the voice began to chuckle. Max pursed her lips together as she felt the cane poke her shoulder.

"Could you not do that." She said strongly.

The voice chuckled again.

"With spirit to boot! HAHAHA! A true mystery indeed."

"I prefer to be an enigma or a riddle." Max replied.

She felt the cane on her chin before it suddenly pulled off her black hood, she was blinded for a second by the light over her but once it passed she was able to finally give a face to the voice that had been talking to her.

* * *

The man in front of her was old. If she had to guess he would be somewhere in his mid-eighties. He was tall with a lanky build, a wrinkly clean shaven face, pale skin and playful green eyes. Max noticed claw like scars going across his face, almost like he had been scratch by a cat. The old man was wearing a green bowl hat with a question mark on the front, a black shirt with red suspenders, green pants and a green jacket that had question marks all over it. And finally in his hands was a golden colored cane in the shape of a question mark.

* * *

Max raised an eyebrow as she saw RJ step into view and next to him but her attention went back to the older man as a smile graced his old lips.

"I'm happy to inform you that being a riddle is my thing dear." He said.

"So, who are you?" she asked.

"I'm….. **the Riddler**." He said with a smile.

"NYGMA!" came a shout.

* * *

Max, The Riddler, and RJ turned towards the shout to see two men and one elderly woman dressed in expensive designer clothing with white masks obscuring their faces and features. The woman stepped forward and held up a small device with a green button on top. At the sight of the device the Riddler along with RJ felt a twinge of fear pass travel down their spines.

"I believe you've had enough fun and games." She said in a stern voice, "We have much work to do and little time to do it, so un-mask the rest of them."

RJ complied with the command and proceed to un-mask the ten other men and women that were bound and on their knees next to Max. As he removed each mask she saw that they were her age or maybe a little older. The Riddler cleared his throat just as the woman in the white mask began to speak again.

* * *

"Welcome, all of you to your new lives. Each of you have shown us that you are ready to be apart of something greater than yourself, you are ready to move on from your wretched lives and meaningless existences and to something that is truly worthwhile. Neo-Gotham City is a wasteland filled with corruption and filth that you will help us cleanse so we can reshape it into a city that's more valuable and honest. We shall burn, no, we shall purge this soiled place and pick its bones of those that do no good or do not share our vision of the future. And that includes the gangsters, the thugs, the police and more recently the resurfaced Batman. They are our enemies and you will help us bring them all down."

"And what do we get in return?" came a voice from a girl that was next to Max.

One of the masked men stepped forward and spread his arms out wide.

"You get to be part of a better tomorrow. You will have a place in our new regime and…"

"And that is all you need to know right now." The elderly woman interrupted.

The masked man turned to her and a moment passed where they looked at each other and once it was over the man took a step back.

"Okay so we've got the carrot, now where's the stick." Said Max.

* * *

The Riddler leaned towards RJ and whispered.

"Oh I think I like her." He said while chuckling

"Me too." RJ whispered back with his own green eyes focused on Max.

* * *

"What if we refuse your offer to join?" Max asked, "What then?"

The masked woman snapped her fingers. The sound echoed in the air and a split second later Max and the others gasped as the dimly lit chamber around illuminated with the glowing yellow lens of the Talons. Each of them silent and intimidating. Max stared at the yellow lens and was instantly reminded of the night when RJ had saved her from one of the imposing assassins. She swallowed hard and turned her attention back to the elderly woman who began to speak again.

"Any other questions?" The masked man asked leaving Max's question open to interpretation from the Talons.

"Good." The elderly woman said, "Then let me officially welcome you all to **the Court of Owls.** You all will be receiving the brand soon which will cement your affiliation with us. Ngyma, show them to their quarters and introduce them to their new jobs."

The elderly woman and the two men turned and walked away and once they left the glowing lens of the talons closed and they melded into the darkness once again.

* * *

 **Elsewhere- Bat-Cave**

" _How are things there now?"_ Came Barbara Gordon-Young's voice through the bat-computer.

"Not… _ow_ ….too great." said Terry through gritted teeth. He glanced over his shoulder at Yinn who was stitching up the laceration across his back. The blade that had pierced his suit hadn't been poisoned tipped however it still hurt him.

" _How's Damian_."

"Resting. Yinn gave him another dose of that anti-toxin B or whatever and I have the computer running some of his blood to see exactly what he was poisoned with so we can... _ow_ …synthesize a proper antidote."

" _Good, just keep me posted. I'll give Leslie and Courtney a call to see if they could come over to and help or at the very least maybe they might have some idea as to the origin of the poison."_

"Schway." Terry replied, "What's the pulse like out there?"

" _What you could expect, however people are curious as to why there is no body, but I managed to convince them that Batman saved him and took him to a private hospital. I gotta go McGinnis duty calls."_

"Same here, and Barbara, make sure you and your people stay safe because these Court of Owl guys are highly trained and something tells me we'll be seeing more of them real soon."

" _Will do_."

* * *

Terry let out a gasp as Yinn finished up the last stitch going across his back, but he breathed a little easier when the older man applied a special soothing balm over the wound, followed by a few bandages that covered the wound.

"I'm finished Master McGinnis and I think you should rest as well."

"I wish I could be there's too much work to do." Terry replied as he started typing into the computer. He quickly downloaded the footage from his cowl and once it finished he pulled up the Talon's resurrection from the fall. Yinn looked at the footage with a curious eye.

"That's strange." He stated.

"You don't know the half of it." Terry replied, "I've seen some crazy stuff but this is by far the craziest. The guy fell like sixty stories and he gets up like it was nothing. He might not be human."

"A good detective doesn't let smoke and mirrors misguide him."

* * *

Terry and Yinn turned to see Damian limping towards them looking a bit worse for wear but otherwise alive. He was wrapped in bandages and there were a few specs of blood showing through but it did nothing to stop his singular trek to the bat-computer.

"Master Wayne…"

"Save it Yinn." Damian interrupted, "I'll rest when I'm dead."

 **DEET! DEET! DEET!** came the sound from the bat-computer.

* * *

"That may not be too far off." Terry replied as he looked at the results, "The poison that's coursing through your veins is very potent however what's weird is that it's been mixed with a chemical compound that's specific to one person. A Pamela…."

"Isely." Damian finished, "Better known as **Poison Ivy**. It took me a minute but I realize where I've felt the effects of this type of poison, however it's been weaponize a bit more. My anti-toxin isn't doing much to dull the pain or the spread."

"I'm trying to get the computer to synthesize an antidote but it's saying that there is a missing compound. And it's a compound that this Poison Ivy might know. I'll track her down."

"That'll take some time." Damian responded weakly as Terry got out of the chair and allowed him to sit, "If you remember the story Barbara and I told you about how everything came to an end for us."

"Yeah, I remember the gruesome details to the Fall of Batman."

"Do you remember that during that time Barbara hunted down Poison Ivy and then beat her within an inch of her life?"

"Yeah." Terry answered.

"After that beating, Poison Ivy dropped off the map. She went underground….presuablably to hide from anything that resembled a Bat. I lost track of her but by that time anyway I had my own agenda, however I've heard some rumblings in a few exotic location of a woman with control over nature. I'll put out an APB through my networks overseas, and I'll see what kind of nets I can throw up here in the cave. However, in the grand scheme of things, Poison Ivy is the least of your concern. You should be more concerned with the Court of Owls. Who are they? Who is their leader? Who are there next targets? Who…"

"Are you turning into an Owl now?" Terry asked with a raised eyebrow.

* * *

Damian looked at him with an annoyed expression before turning back to the bat-computer. He nudged Terry out of the seat and he sat down and pressed rewind on the footage from the cowl. He watched it carefully before shaking his head.

"Did you manage to collect any samples of his DNA?" he asked.

"No." Terry replied.

"Well then we need to find some." Damian replied while zooming in on the metal debris the hulking Talon was yanking out of his body and throwing to the ground, "It's been a few hours since this happen and so if I had to guess, I'd say that the car and all of the parts are making its way to the Neo-Gotham scrap yard. Head that way and find me a DNA sample."

"I can't. One of the wings for gliding was damaged pretty badly, as well as the other piercings in the armor."

"Go in what you have on, and try not to be seen sneaking in McGinnis. And use the new phone I gave you to scan for DNA and anything else that might be of interest." He said before bursting into a fit of coughs.

* * *

Terry and Yinn stepped toward him but he stopped them with a single hand.

"I'm fine…this isn't my first time being poisoned. The quicker we take care of the Court of Owls, the quicker we can locate Poison Ivy and get the damn antidote."

Terry glanced to Yinn who nodded his head in response. The new dark knight turned, grabbed his jacket, rushed to his motorcycle and hurried out of the Bat-Cave with the intentions of heading to the scrap yard to find anything that might've been left behind by the Talon that tried to kill him.

* * *

 **30 Minutes Later- Scrap Yard**

Terry swung his left leg off of his motorcycle and he looked at the scrap yard that was across the street. He looked up to see several flying monitor drones circling the giant heaps of scraps that were just beyond the large fence. The drones were there to ward off thieves who raided the piles of junk for spare parts that they could re-sale through back channels, and most of the things they'd steal were old or destroyed police weaponry off of destroyed or outdated vehicles. It was a lucrative business which made the scrap yards around town invest in better security.

* * *

Terry pulled out his cell phone from his jacket and he held it up in the direction of one of the drones. He slid it open and a holographic screen pulled up in front of him.

"Drone hack beta one." He said.

 **BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**

* * *

The screen zeroed in on the drone he was aiming at and it toggled through dozens of encrypted password keys until it landed on the corrected password. The holographic screen changed into a live video feed from the drone.

"Okay, I've got control of the drone. All I have to do now is locate the car and I can do that by looking up the license plate." He whispered to himself before briefly looking around and thanking his luck that no one was around to see him.

* * *

Terry touched the screen and he entered in the license plate that was retrieved from the bat-suit footage. The drone shifted through a few license plates and cars before finding the particular vehicle.

"Section B, line one." He whispered to himself "Map route."

The screen showed him a map of where he needed to go and once he memorized it, he made his way over to the fence. He used his phone to control the drone and he careful directed the drone to crash into the ground down the street from him and near the entrance of the Scrap Yard.

 **BOOOOOOOOOOM!** Came the sound of it crashing and burning.

* * *

Terry hugged himself to a darkened area of the fence and waited only for a moment before he saw several men and one woman run out of the scrap and towards the burning drone.

He smirked as he quickly climbed up the pole that was next to him, all the while keeping his eye on the people at the entrance. He then jumped over the fence and landed on the other side.

Terry found the crumbled car from earlier in the night in no time. He surveyed it and saw that it was bent inward and twisted in grotesque manor; he still couldn't believe that the armored man had survived.

"Every time I think I've figured out this crime fighting thing it throws me for another loop." He said to himself as he held out his phone, "Scan crime scene."

* * *

The phone gave off another beep before a wide blue light emerged from the small LED port on the end and it roamed over the vehicle scanning every piece of it until the blue light turned to red. The light then went from a wide beam to a thin line as it zeroed in on a splash of dried blood on the floor on the car. He bent down and let his phone hover over the blood. A small metal tip emerged from the top of the phone and collected some of the blood.

"Transmit to Bat-cave." He said before looking around once more and he was thankful that he didn't see anyone.

* * *

 **Bat-Cave**

Damian let out a cough and then looked up from the batsuit that he was repairing when he heard the computer turning on. He looked at the large screen as it showed the blood sample that was scanned by Terry's phone. He watched intently as it toggled through a dozen set of photos and pictures and after a long minute a photo finally settled on the screen.

" **Alton Carver**." Damian read but what he found to be curious was that all of the known files that were on the screen indicated that he was deceased.

Yinn looked at the screen as well and put a hand to his chin.

"It says here that he's been dead for nearly forty-one years. And look at this Master Wayne, it says here that Mr. Carver was a Haly's Circus performer who died of an accidental tight rope accident."

Damian narrowed his red eyes a little.

"Accidental death, not likely. I'll have to call Dick to see if he can give me any type of information on this Alton Carver. Computer."

 **DEET!**

"Call Dick Grayson."

"Unable to connect to Dick Grayson." Came the response from the computer.

* * *

Damian scrunched his eyes in confusion.

"Why?"

"All communication lines are turned off."

"What in the hell could he be doing that he has to turn off all communication lines?" Damian grumbled.

* * *

 **Neo-Blühaven- Financial District**

 **Dick Grayson** , moved through the darkness while watching his protégé and friend **Brian Milwood** take care of twelve T-Gang hoods that were down below. He smiled to himself as he felt the rush of adrenaline take over his old body. The former vigilante felt a new sense of energy and suddenly he was no longer a man in his mid-sixties but he was a young man in his early twenties.

Dick took a step towards the edge and he leapt off the steep building. The wild blew through his gray hair and wrinkled face but it didn't disturb the black and blue domino mask over his eyes or the large smile plastered on his face.

' _WHOOOOOO HOOOOOO!'_ He shouted his mind.

* * *

 **Down Below**

Brian acrobatically jumped into the air and flipped over the head of the T-Gang member that tried to slash him with a knife from behind his back. He dropped down and swept him off of his feet before rolling under a pipe that was aimed for the back of his head.

Brian stood up and put his fists just as Dick dropped down on-top of the man and chopped him in the neck, knocking him out.

"I had him." Brian said.

"I know." Dick replied "But I didn't want you to think I was being a lazy old man."

Brian looked around at the dozen T-Gang members that were unconscious around him and then the one that was beneath Dick.

"Right." He replied before letting out a groan and touching a bleeding cut on his arm.

* * *

Dick went over to him and looked at it.

"You'll need a stitch or two but nothing you can't handle." He said "You still need a bit more practice though. You're too quick to slip into old habits, namely using that anger."

"It gets the job done." Brian replied

"There's getting the job done and then there's getting the job done." Said Dick.

"The difference being?" Brian asked.

"No stitches." He said with a smirk.

* * *

The two of them turned as they heard the sound of police sirens finally arriving. In a wordless tandem they both ran and flipped onto a trash can and then sprung up to the fire-escape ladders and then deftly climbed to the top of the building and disappeared across the rooftops.

* * *

 **Neo-Gotham City- On the Road**

Terry revved his motorcycle as he swerved in an out of the traffic and across the snowy bridge that would take him to Wayne Manor however a call was coming through the visor on his helmet. He tapped the side and the voice of his girlfriend Dana Tan filled his ears.

"TERRY WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN! I'VE BEEN TRYING TO CALL YOU! OH MY GOD, IT'S TERRIBLE!"

"Whoa, slow down Dana what's got you so spooked?" He asked.

"Terry. Max has been kidnapped!"

* * *

 **SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!** Went the sound of the Terry gripping the brakes on his motorcycle. He skidded along the snowy road a little causing the cars behind him to swerve out of the way. He twisted his bike to the right and he applied the gas and he drove off of the side bridge.

Terry flew through the air for a long moment before coming down on the road below. He almost toppled over but he managed to keep the bike steady as he sped off in the direction of Hamilton University.

* * *

 **Hamilton University- 15 Minutes later**

Terry burst through the doors to the co-ed dorm rooms and he rushed past several startled students. He made it to the stairs and he sprinted up three flights of stairs before bursting through another set of doors that led to Max's hallway.

He turned the corner and that's when he saw the campus police as well as NGCPD officers and one detective that he recognized, as Montoya Bullock, standing next to a dorm room in particular. He spotted Nelson, Blade and Chelsea Cunningham standing next to an inconsolable Dana.

"HEY!" he called out to them.

* * *

One of the NGCPD officers stepped towards him and tried to restrain him but Terry grabbed his hand and with minimal force twisted it and pushed him into the wall. He reached the dorm room and that's when Dana rushed to him and hugged him tightly.

"Terry she's gone, they kidnapped her!" She said with her head buried in his chest.

"Who?" He asked.

"A new cult that's on the rise." Montoya said from behind him, "They call themselves the Court of Owls and this is the fifth reported kidnapping so far."

* * *

Terry looked away from the top of Dana's head and to the interior of Max's dorm room that had the Court of Owls symbol, which was a large black Owl with its wings spread wide. And under the symbol were the words the Court of Owls are watching painted in blood.

Terry gritted his teeth and balled his fist in anger.

"Who do these Court of Owls think they are that they can just kidnap my best friend." Said Dana.

' _I don't know but rest assured Batman will find out.'_ Terry thought to himself. In that moment he decided that he would take down the Court of Owls by any means necessary.

* * *

 **Elsewhere: Location Unknown**

The Talon that had kicked Damian through the Wayne-Observartory dinning hall entered a well lit chamber where there were several Court of Owls members sitting and waiting.

"Is he dead?" The elderly woman asked.

"No." The Talon replied "But we don't want him dead just yet. He and all of his followers have not suffered enough."

"This is a dangerous game, we should just kill Wayne and the Batman while we have the advantage." came the voice from right of the elderly woman.

"Quiet boy. We've had years to plan and everything is going according to that carefully laid plan."

"I agree." The Talon replied "We've set the trap and all we have to do is wait for Wayne and Batman to fall into our nest, where we will break both of them and take Neo-Gotham as our own."

* * *

 **End Chapter: Read and Review:** **Hey readers it's me Nomad88 back again with the closing comments. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and the mystery of the Court of Owls going on. I just want to be clear that I will deviating from the actual storyline in the comics greatly but at the same time there should be a few familiar parts or ties to that story.**

 **Anyway, I sincerely hope that all of you are enjoying the start of Batman Beyond Volume 2 because there are dozen of twist and turns left before the end. I'm keeping this end segment here short so I can go ahead and dive into the next chapter. If any of you have any questions, comments, rants or raves please leave it in the review or hit me up with a PM and I'll get back to you ASAP. This is Nomad88 saying later…**

 **Ps: Always remember to check my profile for updates.**

 **Next Up: The Court of Owls Part Two**

* * *

 **Summary: Terry, Damian, and Yinn fall deeper into the trap that's been set for them by the Court of Owls. Meanwhile Carrie Kelly adjusts to her new life and exactly what is her story? And Max gets to know RJ and the Riddler and how they tie into the Court of Owls.**


	3. The Court of Owls Part Two

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT in any form or fashion own these characters. All credit goes directly to DC entertainment and comics. They are the owners not me, I'm in no shape or form making any money off of this story. Alright, let's get on with the show.**

 **Hey readers it's me Nomad88 back with another chapter in Batman Beyond volume 2. As always I hope that everyone is enjoying the story and the twist and turns. How many of you expected the Riddler, not many I hope LOL! Anyway I just want to say please continue to Read, REVIEW (a writer's main source of motivation) and of course ENJOY!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: The Court of Owls part 2**

 **Hamilton University- Few Hours Later**

Batman turned the dial on his belt and uncloaked himself within the darkened dorm room that belonged to the missing Maxine Gibson. The Dark Knight of tomorrow looked around the trashed room and a wave of anger passed over him but he quickly let it go. He knew he had to keep his cool if he wanted to find her and the people that took her.

The NGCPD had already run their forensic test and so far they've come up with nothing that could possibly trace her whereabouts but seeing as how he had more cutting edge technology and he was Batman he had the best shot at finding her period.

* * *

Batman tapped the side of his cowl and his vision changed to blue as the environmental scanners activated.

' _Alright McGinnis, be the detective, be the detective._ ' He thought to himself as he began to scan everything in the room _, 'Why would this so called Court of Owls be after Max? Does she know something? Or could she know them or someone that's involved with them? She has been a bit closed off lately after everything with Brian went down, so maybe….'_

Batman stopped in mid-thought as his scanners picked up something on the ground. The scanners zoomed in on what looked like a partial foot imprint with trace amounts of metal shavings in the groves. He went over to it and knelt down and touched it with his two finger-tips.

"Analyze." He said.

The scanners in his cowl beeped and analyzed the print and metal shavings, after a second a profile of the type of metal was brought up before his eyes.

"Computer, synchronize with the Batmobile and then broadcast a secure network to Commissioner Gordon."

* * *

 **NGCPD- Commissioner Gordon Office**

Barbara let out a long sigh as she leaned back in her lumpy and uncomfortable chair. She had been getting reports from everyone in the unit about the Court of Owls. There had been a dozen more kidnappings in the past couple of hours and everyone that had been abducted were people that were in their twenties like Max. At first she thought it might have been the jokerz trying to rebuild but her instincts were telling her something different. The Court of Owls was something new altogether and if they were tough enough to hurt and poison Damian Wayne of all people then the situation was quite serious.

"Damn it all." She whispered to herself as she reached into her drawer and removed a bottle of aspirin. She popped the top however before she could down her usually three to four tablets she spotted her computer screen going black for a moment.

* * *

Barbara narrowed her eyes as the computer screen went to a secure line and a profile of the metal shavings along with a partial footprint appeared.

" _You should really fire your forensic people, they missed something_." Came Batman's voice.

"Not really. I figured Batman being the great detective that he is would find something my people missed. And look I was right."

" _I found a partial foot-print along with some metal shavings by the bed but I'm not sure what I'm looking at_."

Barbara studied the files in front of her for a moment before typing into her computer. She created a second screen and pulled up a map of Neo-Gotham City.

" _I can hear your fingers moving, is there any chance you could make your mouth do the same thing and tell me what the hell I'm looking at_."

"From what I can tell the metal shavings you found are from old and outdated metal. I haven't seen this particular brand of metal being used in over fifteen years and that's mostly because the company that manufactured it went bankrupt for producing shoddy and weak product. If I remember correctly there were a few injuries and death."

" _Does that mean that they could have Max at one of the abandoned factories?"_

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. I'm casting a net now and searching for any place around the city that could possible still have that type of metal. I believe that around the same time the company went bankrupt Gotham went through a major overhaul from the ground up so most of the places were torn down."

The computer screen in front of her finished its search and several locations popped up on the screen.

"I'm relaying it back to you now."

* * *

Barbara grabbed her aspirin bottle and was about to down a few of the tablets when a smell caught her attention. She sniffed the air and then she carefully sniffed the inside of the aspirin bottle. She recoiled in disgust.

"I would recognize the scent of poison anywhere." She whispered to herself.

Barbara dropped the aspirin bottle and quickly stood up from her seat. She looked to her window and immediately hugged herself to the corner that was away from the blinds.

" _Commissioner?_ " came Batman's voice.

"I need you to get here now." She said right as the Bat-signal shined brightly in the sky.

* * *

Barbara carefully looked through the blinds and saw the signal. She knew she hadn't given the order for anyone to light it.

" _No kidding. I see the signal. I'm on my way."_

"NO! STAY AWAY IT'S A TRA….."

 **KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!** Came the sound of an explosion as it ripped through the NGCPD building.

* * *

Barbara was roughly thrown to the ground. She could feel the building still rumbling but when she heard the cracking of the roof above her she rolled to the right as the bat-signal came falling through. The light flickered and then shut off as it tumbling through floor and all the way to the ground below.

 **CLANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG** came the sound of the signal hitting the street.

Commissioner Gordon got to her feet just as a large figure came flying into the recently created hole in her office.

* * *

 **THUD!** Went the sound of him landing. Barbara narrowed her eyes as the large yellowed eyed Talon rose up and removed a sword from his back.

" **Commissioner Barbara Gordon-Young. The Court of Owls demands your life**."

The Commissioner dodged the first thrust from the Talon in front of her. The tip of the blade jammed itself into the wall behind her where it stuck. Barbara kicked the Talon in the stomach and punched him in the face. She reached down and grabbed two of the long knives that were strapped to his sides and rolled away just as he ripped his sword from the wall and tried to separate her head from her shoulders.

She gritted her teeth as her body painfully told her that she wasn't in her twenties anymore but she had to push it aside as her attacker came in again. She used the knives to block his blade however he was strong. He came low and she lifted her foot and hopped up with a knee to his chest. It stunned him briefly only because his armor absorbed most of the impact.

"COMMISSIONER!"

 **BANG!** Came the sound of door to her office being kicked open. Detective Montoya Bullock barged into the office with her gun raised.

"WHAT THE HELL!" she shouted.

* * *

The Talon turned to her and she immediately opened fire. The hulking assassins used his sword to deflect the laser bolts that were supposed to kill him. He removed a throwing star from his waist and tossed it at Montoya.

 **CLANG!** Went the sound of the star knocking her weapon out of her hand.

"BULLOCK GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Commissioner Gordon yelled as she charged forward with her stolen knives. The Talon whipped around with a mid-ranged attack that was blocked by the elder woman. The two enemies stood their locked together in a battle of strength that the Commissioner was loosing. He was vastly stronger than her and she was beginning to lose ground.

* * *

Detective Bullock grabbed the coat rack in the corner and swung it and smacked the armored Talon in the back of the head, but it did little to stop him. He turned and back-handed her in the face drawing some blood in the process.

Barbara came up with one of her knives and sliced the assassin right on the shoulder in-between the plating of his armor.

The Talon let out a shout of pain before elbowing her in the face and quickly coming around with his sword and slashing her across the shoulder and kicking her in the chest. The Commissioner went down to the ground grabbed the bleeding wound however she had to ignore it in favor of the hulking figure that stood over her.

" **The reign of the Bat and his allies are at an end.** "

The Talon raised his sword preparing to skewer her when a grappling hook fired out and wrapped around his arms.

* * *

 **Outside**

Batman shifted the batmobile in reverse and yanked the tied Talon out of Commissioner Gordon's office and into the freezing cold winter air. The Dark Knight of tomorrow reached up to the levers above him and pulled allowing himself to drop out of the bottom of the car just as the Talon managed to cut the line that was holding him.

* * *

Batman dove towards him and socked him in the face shattering one of his glowing yellow lenses. Batman punched him again and again until he felt the large assassin shift his weight in the air and return with a hard punch of his own. The two of them struggled with each other; however neither noticed the skylight below them that was coming closer and closer.

 **CRASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!** Went the sound of the two of them smashing through the glass skylight.

* * *

 **Penthouse**

Batman and the Talon assassin fell into the pool still struggling with the other. The Talon head-butted him in the face and then kicked him in the chest before swimming upwards. He climbed over the edge and rolled onto the tile floor scarring the elderly couple who owned the penthouse.

Batman rocked out of the water and slammed both feet into his back and pinned him down to the tile floor.

"It's over dreg!" he shouted "Where is Maxine Gibson!" he growled.

The Talon chuckled which only served to anger Batman. He kneed him in the side several times before turning him over and grabbing him by the front of his armor and easily hoisting him up, so his feet dangled.

"Does it look like I'm in the mood? TELL ME WHERE YOU'RE HIDING MAXINE GIBSON!"

" **In time all will be revealed but it won't matter for you will be dead.** "

 **CRASHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

* * *

Batman looked up to see four more Talons descending from the skylight above, each armed with either a sword or knife. He tossed the Talon in his hands away and prepared to defend himself against his new foes.

They were swift and were upon him in moments but he managed to hold his own. Batman used his fins to block the two mid-ranged attacks. He hooked one of the blades in his fins and with a slight jerk he broke the blade in two pieces and then whipped around with a kick that nailed the assassin in the jaw. He spotted two coming out the corner of his eyes and so he flicked his wrist and out came two batarangs that he threw at them. As he expected they swung at the batarangs and once they made contact the batarangs exploded in a blinding flash of light giving Batman enough time to cloak himself.

The two talons recovered and looked all around for their foe but he was nowhere to be seen. Batman uncloaked himself behind them. He drove his knee in the back one the Talon close to him and then flipped him over to the ground. He then twisted and delivered a hard palm strike to the other Talon's nose.

Batman felt a strong kick to his back that sent him rolling towards the elderly couple that was doing their best to stay out of sight. He came up out of the roll and stood in front of them.

" **Batman, the hour of your death is not quite upon you yet but it is coming. Watch for our sign!** "

* * *

The larger Talon tossed dozens of pellets to the ground that each gave off a synchronized beeping sound. He gasped as he turned and dashed towards the elderly couple ignoring the sinister laugh coming from the hulking Talon behind him.

Batman grabbed the two civilians and curled his feet, taking off upwards just as the bombs detonated.

 **KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!**

* * *

 **Outside**

Batman narrowly flew through the broken skylight with the civilians in tow. He felt the force of the explosion propelling him forward a little and throwing him off balance however he managed to right himself and land softly on the roof of the building next to the penthouse apartment. He gently placed the scared civilians on the snowy roof-top and tapped the side of his cowl activating detective mode.

He scanned the raging fire but there was no sign of the Talons that attacked him. They had vanished.

"Dammit." He whispered to himself

' _McGinnis!'_ came Damian's voice.

"You're supposed to be resting."

' _Forget that, what the hell is going on?'_

"In a nutshell the Court of Owls have struck again. They hit the GCPD. Gordon was the target."

" _Is she…"_

"Alive and well." Batman replied calmly "I'm sure she's on the way to the hospital and I'm right behind them. I have it under control."

" _Clearly."_

Batman rolled his eyes as the roar of the Batmobile engines found its way to his ears. He curled his feet and flew upwards and into the vehicle, making a bee-line towards the Hospital where he was sure Commissioner Gordon was going.

* * *

 **Elsewhere- Location Unknown**

Max sat in front of a laptop that had wires and cables protruding out of it and going into a large column that was in the shape of a question mark. She looked around at the others who were typing away into their own computers which also had wires that led into the question mark column. She stared at it for a moment, her mind trying its best to put the pieces together.

' _Just what is going on here?'_ she thought to herself _'If I had to guess that thing is receiving and transmitting signals but the question is what is it receiving and what is transmitting.'_

 **THUNK! TAP! THUNK! TAP! THUNK! TAP!** Came the sound of the cane.

* * *

Max was about to turn around to the sound when she felt the end of a cane keep her head pointed forward.

"Here's your Riddle for the day my sweet. I catch and release yet I can't hold water. I'm everywhere, yet nowhere at the same time. And everyone plays with me yet I have no hands. What am I?"

Max sat there for a moment, her mind going over the riddle from the Riddler.

"Tick Tock. Tick Tock my sweet." Came his voice from behind her.

"…..you're a net." She answered.

"And what's another name for a net?" He asked in an amused tone.

"A goal?"

"Too easy." He said "Think a bit harder, think about the patterns of a net."

"….a grid."

* * *

The Riddler removed his cane from her face allowing her to turn around.

"You're smart but I helped you out." The Riddler said with a chuckle, "And not just any grid but, **my** grid."

"What is all this?" she asked.

"Since you got my little riddle right I'll tell you Ms. Gibson. You are now in the honey comb center of the true strength of the Court of Owls. I've spent years siphoning precious resources, money and information from all over the world and channeling it back here, furthering their agenda. And cementing their hold on Neo-Gotham City and prepping it for the eventual take over."

"Why?" she asked innocently.

The Riddler let his smile drop and he placed both of his old hands on the question mark at the top of his cane. A dark look crossed his wrinkled features.

"Why? Why? Why? That is the ultimate question isn't it? The most deadly question in all of the questions I can think of. Why? Why I'll tell you my sweet, if you can answer another riddle. What do you call a bloody fist?"

"A bleeding heart." Max replied smoothly.

* * *

The Riddler laughed before he heard RJ clear his throat behind him. He turned to the younger man whose face looked a little flushed. RJ had a hand over his chest and his eyes were a little red.

"They wish to speak to you." He said out of breath.

"Why?" The Riddler asked.

"That is the question isn't it." RJ returned "Here's another for you, what's a secret that's not a secret anymore?"

"Knowledge." The Riddler and Max said at the same time.

"Exactly." Said RJ "I believe they know."

"Well, then I suppose that complicates things a tad."

The Riddler limped away from the two of them and towards a lift that would take him to an upper deck to where the Court of Owls were waiting.

* * *

Max watched him go before turning to RJ who stumbled to her desk and then slowly sat down on the ground still clutching his chest.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"No." He answered quickly.

She looked at him and then towards the upper deck where several of the Talons were perched, silent and menacing; the glowing yellow lens sending a cold chill down her spine.

"Are the two of you prisoners here?" she asked.

"Everyone's a prisoner in some form or fashion Max, but to answer your question about this particular situation….yes, my grandfather and I are prisoner's here."

"That guy, the Riddler is your grandfather?"

"He's a bit strange I know but he's by far the most brilliant man I've ever met….and the only one I can depend on." He said before leaning towards her a little, "He's been trying to find a way to get us both out of here but so far no luck." He finished in a hushed voice, "All hope was lost until he re-appeared."

"He who?"

"Batman." Said RJ "My grandfather says that Batman is the key to our liberation but he has to earn the right or something."

"And just what does Batman have to do with anything?" Max asked.

"Everything." RJ replied.

* * *

 **Across Town- Hospital**

Batman climbed through the window right as the doctor and nurse finished stitching and patching Commissioner Gordon's wounds. He had been patiently waiting outside for them to leave.

"Finally." He said, "You okay."

"I've had worse." Barbara replied as she laid back in her hospital bed, "Kid do me a favor and hand me my clothes over there in the cabinet."

Batman walked to the cabinet and he grabbed her clothes and tossed them to her before turning around. Barbara gingerly began to dress herself.

"You shouldn't be here babysitting me kid; you should be out there looking for the Court of Owls."

"They just tried to kill you, and if I had to guess they're probably watching you right now. You're my best lead."

"Careful. You almost sounded like Bruce, using your friends as live bait." She said with a hint of amusement in her voice, "I'll be fine. You should be checking out that map that I sent you."

"I will as soon as I make a delivery." Batman replied while turning to face her.

* * *

Commissioner Gordon had little time to react as Batman lunged forward and hit two pressure points on her neck which knocked her out cold.

"Sorry Commissioner but I can't go checking around with you still being a target." He whispered softly.

" _I see my pressure point lessons have paid off.'_ Damian's voice.

Batman gently picked her up and carried her to the window where the Batmobile was cloaked and waiting. He strapped her inside and then directed the vehicle to fly away.

"She's on the way to the cave, and I'm going back to work."

Batman curled his feet spread his wings and took off to the sky.

* * *

 **Batcave- Minutes Later**

Damian let out a cough as he eyed the video screen where the voice of his close friend and former partner Dick Grayson filtered through and into the interior.

" _Yeah I remember Alton Carver_." said Dick, " _And I remember his untimely death. It was right after Bruce's supposed death and just before I took up the cape and cowl. We were doing a show like normal, and his wire snapped and he fell. It struck me as odd that he would just fall like that, he was a perfectionist and so he would not have went onto that wire unless he knew it was perfect. I was going to investigate but it was then I had other priorities, it's one of my cases that fell through the cracks_."

"It seems to be a lot of that going on." Damian replied before bursting into another fit of coughs. He removed his hand to see a few specs of blood _, 'Damn.'_

" _Are you alright, you sound terrible_."

"I've been poisoned."

" _By whom?_ " Dick asked.

"The same people, who have seemingly resurrected Alton Carver from the dead, tell me something, have you ever heard of a shadow group called the Court of Owls?"

" _Court of Owls? No, I've never heard of them_." Dick replied.

"No searches I've done come up with anything either, which leads me to believe it's a group that's been made up or….they've erased any knowledge about themselves. The poison that's coursing through my veins isn't something that some normal group would know to use. It's…different, weaponized and highly potent. I believe we've met the person that made it in the past."

" _So they've got deep pockets to reach out to certain psychotic botanist that we lost track of ages ago._ " Dick surmised.

"Basically."

* * *

Damian's attention was taken away from Dick's voice and to an incoming roar from the engines of the batmobile.

"I have to call you back Dick. Barbara just got here, did you want to…"

" _No. I think we've said all we need to say to each other."_ He replied.

Damian rolled his eyes and he ended the transmission and swiveled around in the chair and carefully stood up. He watched as the vehicle set itself down and the top slid open to reveal an unconscious Commissioner Barbara Gordon-Young.

"YINN!" He yelled.

* * *

Yinn calmly walked towards the batmobile and he gently picked Barbara up into his arms.

"I shall attend to Mrs. Young Master Wayne. And need I remind you that you need to be resting."

"I'll rest when I'm dead." He replied before coughing.

"Keep pushing yourself and that will happen real soon." Said Yinn while walking off with Barbara in tow.

Damian scoffed at Yinn's remark.

' _I'm not dying anytime soon.'_ He thought to himself, "Computer, voice module activation. Barbara Gordon."

The computer let out a loud beep.

"Call Mayor Young's private phone."

* * *

 **Young Household**

Mayor Sam Young gritted his teeth as he ended the unanswered call and slammed his phone down onto the marble counter top. He stared ahead at the news report about the attack from the Court of Owls on the NGCPD building. He shook his head because he knew that whatever was happening Barbara was neck deep in it and no matter how many years he had been married to her he would never be used to the deep pit of uneasiness that formed in his stomach every time he heard her name followed by the words explosion. He knew she could take of herself, she used to be Batgirl but that was a long time ago.

"Answer your phone Barbara." He said to himself.

 **RINNNNNNNNNNGG!** Sam looked to his phone and he grabbed it and answered it.

"Barbara."

" _Hello Sam_." Came Barbara's voice on the other end.

"Where are you?"

" _I'm fine. I'm handling the situation. I'll be home later_."

"Barbara?"

" _Don't worry about me; I can take care of myself. I have to go_."

* * *

Mayor Young took the phone away from his ear and he looked at it with confusion written all over his face. The sound of feet soon caught his attention and he turned to the kitchen entrance to see Carrie Kelly walking in.

Carrie looked at him and then towards the television where she saw the headline.

"Is Barbara okay?" she asked.

"She's fine. I just talked to her." Sam replied in a calm and confident voice, in spite of the fact that he was anything but calm or confident. He couldn't let her know how worried he was because he didn't want her to panic and run away…again. He remembered the first day Barbara brought her home. She was a thin, pale looking child who was wearing dirty rags for clothes. Barbara explained to him that Carrie was the niece of their dear dead friend Samantha Epstein. Samantha's sister Marjorie Epstein had gone down a dark path after her death. She started using drugs, she dropped out of college and then married a two bit hustler named Gary Kelly and together they had Carrie. Both of them were neglectful of Carrie and it was by chance that Barbara had run into her on the streets one night. She took her in with plans to adopt her but before Carrie could get settled in she ran away.

* * *

Barbara had her suspicions as to why she ran away and it was a source of great debate between them but they dropped the subject however because now that she was back they could finally ask her but only when she was ready.

Sam opened his mouth but before he could say anything there was a knock at the door. He looked at the viewing pad to see that it was his security team. He opened the door and allowed them inside.

"Mayor Young we have reason to believe that this Court of Owls cult may be after you. We're moving you to a more secure location."

* * *

He wanted to protest but his eyes glanced towards the news broadcast that was still on the GCPD Building. He watched as the screen panned down towards the fallen and broken Bat-signal.

"Carrie, go pack some things we're leaving."

Carrie nodded her head as she quickly left the kitchen and headed to her room.

* * *

 **Skies of Neo-Gotham City**

Batman flew through the snowy night air; his mind clouded with trying to put together all the pieces that seemed to up floating about, the Court of Owls, Max, and now the attack on Commissioner Gordon. The thing that annoyed him the most however was that he seemed to be one step behind everything. In the three years he had been training with Damian he had believed that he was becoming a better Batman but with everything that's been happening it was all evidence to the contrary. He was still the same eighteen year old kid that was in over his head.

"Dammit." He cursed to himself as he came to a stop on top of a ghastly looking gargoyle, "Why can't I figure this out, it feels like I'm chasing my tail. This is probably exactly what they want. They want to keep me off balanced and guessing so I need to start thinking outside the box but the question is how or even where to start. The metal shavings are my only lead but even that is a long shot."

* * *

Batman lifted his hand to his cowl and he tapped the side. The electronics switched to voice command.

"Bring up the map Commissioner Gordon sent earlier."

The lenses in his mask turned blue as the map of Neo-Gotham City pulled up in front of him. He studied it for a moment looking at all the places that had been marked by the Commissioner. He zeroed in on where the Wayne Observatory was located. He saw that some of the inner workings of the old Observatory were made from the same type of metal found in Max's dorm. He spread his wings and curled his feet and flew away.

* * *

 **Wayne Observatory**

Batman descended towards the observatory and he glided through the hole in the window that was barely wrapped with caution tape. He landed on the ground without a sound and he looked around the empty room.

' _Be the detective.'_ He thought to himself as he reached up to his cowl and activated Detective mode and evidence scanner which showed him the entire layout of the old Wayne Observatory. He looked around carefully inspecting every inch of the top floor where Damian was attacked, but so far nothing was being picked up.

' _Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.'_

Batman came to a stop and he let out a sigh of frustration. He needed some help.

"Prophet, are you there?"

" _Go ahead."_

"I'm at the Observatory."

" _Why?'_

"Because I think I might have a legitimate lead on the Court of Owls. When I was looking over Max's room, I found some metal shavings. Barbara told me that the type of metal I found was outdated and decommissioned and so she gave me a map of all the locations to which that metal could still be used and…."

" _You followed it to the Observatory."_ Prophet finished much to Batman's irritation.

"Yes."

" _I'm impressed. You're starting to think outside the box, that's good."_

"Was that a compliment?" Batman asked.

" _Shut up and stay sharp. I'm tapping into your video feed now."_

* * *

Detective mode was activated again. The line went silent for a moment as Damian looked around through the video feed.

"How did they get in here?" Batman asked after a minute.

" _What?"_

"I'm still thinking outside of the box here and after thinking over the report from when you got attacked, I remember that there were no signs of forced entry from the maitre'd's at the front door. They didn't see or hear anything until you came crashing out of the window. Detective mode is scanning the building and there are no signs of forced entry from either the top of the building or below. The observatory sits on a metal slab so there's no way they could've come in from the bottom so how the hell did they get in here with no one seeing them. If someone would have seen them there would be a body but there's no body."

" _The simple answer McGinnis is that they were already in the building. They were perhaps lying in wait. I'm impressed."_

"I'm searching for a very specific clue. If they were in here lying in wait they must've left something behind." Batman replied as he continued to analyze the room. He came to a stop when his detective vision suddenly changed and he could see red hash-tag marks appearing everywhere, "Whoa, what's happening?"

" _I'm remotely inputting the data needed to recreate a simulation of the incident. It should only take a moment. I just have to remember every detail and where everyone was sitting."_

"You can remember that!" Batman exclaimed.

" _It's a learned ability you need to teach yourself McGinnis. You should know by now that in this line of work the devil is in the details."_ Prophet replied smoothly, _"Alright I'm done. I'm going to slowly replay the events how I remember them and you look for your clue to scan."_

* * *

Batman watched his detective mode intently as grainy moving images appeared in his vision. He was standing in the middle of room next to the table where he assumed Damian was standing. He looked to his right and saw who he assumed to be Valerie Vale sitting across from his mentor. The two grainy images were talking until suddenly Damian stood up.

Batman turned to see a grainy image of what he knew to be the Court of Owl Assassin. He looked at the image and then he glanced down towards the Assassin's feet, he made the vision zoom in close and that's when his scanner picked up bits of the metal shavings.

"Bingo! I've got something." Batman stated as the scanner began to calibrate and bring up the statistics on the metal shavings, "Metal shavings that don't seem to originate from this floor, but definitely from the building."

" _I'm getting a reading. Turn to the left of you there should be a sealed elevator shaft."_

* * *

Batman looked to the left where he spotted the old and sealed elevator shaft. He made his way over and he pried the doors opened allowing the stale air to escape the old and dark shaft. Batman reached towards his belt and he removed five black balls from one of the slots and he tossed them up into the air.

The five black balls linked together and hovered in the air above him creating some light so he could see. Batman peered down the shaft and he spotted a ladder that led down to the top of a non-functioning elevator several floors below. He jumped down.

 **THUD!** Came the sound of him landing.

* * *

He had to balance himself as he felt the elevator shift and move dangerously almost as if it was about to fall but after a long second of shaking it finally came to a stop. Batman let out a breath and then looked down to the dusty elevator top where he saw two distinct foot prints. He bent down and put a hand to the prints.

"It looks like we're on the right track." He said.

" _What floor are you on?"_ Prophet asked.

Batman looked at the door in front of him but there was no number on the front nor around it. He looked up and saw that the door above had the number fourteen plastered on it in fading white paint.

"I'm guessing the thirteenth floor, but there aren't any markings anywhere."

" _That's because there is no thirteenth floor."_ Said Prophet _"At least that's what the blue prints to the building are showing me right now on the computer. The schematics jump from twelve to fourteen."_

"Well that's not odd at all."

* * *

Batman stepped to the closed door to the thirteenth floor and he pried it open.

The floating light above him drifted onto the darkened floor however as soon as Batman hoisted himself inside, grainy, dim, lighting from above flickered on, revealing an entire living area dedicated to the Court of Owls. Along the walls were portraits of people wearing white masks that obscured their faces, along with them wearing expensive suits or dresses. Each portrait had a date above it and the dates dated all the way back to Gotham City's inception. In all of the portraits in the center of the men and women in white mask was the hulking Owl themed assassin that he had fought earlier. Batman stared at the pictures and he narrowed his eyes.

"Are you getting this?" he asked.

" _Yes."_ Prophet replied _, "And I do not like it one bit. Keep looking around the room."_

Batman moved away from the pictures and he went towards a weight set where he saw a bench press with some free weights scattered about. He saw a worn out punching bag as well as a worn out speed bag, both hanging from a chain attached to the sturdy ceiling. The Dark Knight also spotted an old school treadmill, as well as a small cot.

"How could something like this have slipped through the cracks?" Batman asked as he continued to inspect the secret Talon hideout.

" _I don't know but if I had to guess, time and opportunity."_ Prophet replied.

Batman came to a stop as he reached a desk with several papers thrown about. Each of the papers was white and looked to be blue prints of some sort. He was about to push them away when he tilted his head to the side and spotted three question marks on the number of one of the pages. He stared at it and then moved it out the way where he saw another blueprint page with question marks around it only the question marks were in the shape of a bat.

" _Good Lord_." Prophet whispered.

"What?" Batman asked.

" _I think I know who might be behind the Court of Owls, and if he's behind it then we were supposed to find this stash house, which means we've been playing right into his hand_."

"Do you mind filling me in on who this person is?"

" _The Riddler_."

"Riddler, Edward Nygma. I remember reading something on him from the old man's files but I didn't pay much attention to it but I'm really wondering how did something like this escape from the old man's sight, I mean he built this building right?"

" _No_." Prophet answered however there was something in his voice.

* * *

 **Bat-Cave**

Damian coughed for a few fits before staring at the screen intently. He had been in the middle of doing a cross-reference between the building blueprints he had seen through Terry's visor but the younger man's comment caused him to come to a stop. Terry had unwittingly stumbled upon a curious point.

Damian knew a little about the Wayne Observatory and that it had been standing in Gotham years before Bruce, or even Thomas Wayne but he never knew who built it. And so with a quick search on the bat-computer he brought up the architect to the Wayne Observatory. **Alan Wayne** , his great-great-great-great-grandfather, who not only designed the Observatory but much of Gotham before succumbing to a severe break with reality.

* * *

Damian narrowed his eyes as he continued to read several very old gazette articles about his great-great-great-grandfather and how he after building up Gotham, had mysteriously gone crazy and talked about how owls where coming after him and an old nursery rhyme before falling to his death down a man-hole.

Damian stopped on one of the gazette articles that went into detail about his great-grandfather and Owls.

"Owls." Damian whispered. He thought over what he was reading and then to the pictures he saw on the walls in the stash house.

" _Did you find anything?"_ Batman asked.

"Only that I have no patience for mysteries." Damian replied.

" _What do you want me to do?"_

Damian hesitated for a moment before answering.

"I want you to show me those blue prints again."

* * *

 **Later that Night- Financial district-**

Batman stood within another Court of Owls lair, located on the thirteenth floor of a building in the financial district of Neo-Gotham. He looked around and spotted equipment, knives and other assortment of weapons, just like in the other stash houses he had found earlier in the night. He looked up and along the wall were more photos of men and women in expensive suits and dresses wearing white mask on their face and in the middle of them was the Talon assassin.

"Send the Talon for your head." Batman said to himself as he looked at the assassin in the photos intently.

* * *

He thought back to what Damian had told him about the rhyme that Alan Wayne had muttered moments before his tragic death. The rhyme was unsettling especially considering that it was muttered back in the early nineteen hundreds. It all seemed a bit surreal but here was the evidence staring him in the face.

' _Do you see another map?'_ came Prophets voice from over the line.

Batman looked around making sure to use his detective mode just to make sure he didn't miss anything.

"No." he answered.

' _Good. The batmobile should be waiting outside, hop in and let me show you what I've compiled so far."_

"Roger that."

* * *

 **Bat-Cave**

Damian felt a wave of nausea followed by double vision but he shook it off and stared at the screen in front of him. He had a map of New-Gotham City on display with red dots on every Court of Owl base found by Batman. He had several facts listed on the screen to the left that seemed to tie all of the random buildings together as well as the reported kidnappings that have been happening.

" _What do you got?"_ Batman asked.

"A connection." Damian replied "You told me that your friend Max is a hacker right."

" _Yeah."_

"All the reported kidnappings have been kids in their early to mid-twenties and most of them are on the FBI watch list as experienced hackers."

" _Why would the Court of Owls need hackers?"_

"A good question, one we'll have to find the answer to later. Along with the hackers all the buildings, minus the Observatory were at one point or another renovated by March Ventures. And it seems that at least three of the hackers kidnapped worked for March Ventures."

" _March Ventures, as in Lincoln March. First it's the hackers, now the buildings, that's two coincidences in a row."_

"You're no longer allowed to believe in coincidence. I knew there was something off about him and now I know what, he's connected with the Court of Owls."

" _Maybe, or maybe he's just a red herring."_ Batman offered.

* * *

Damian took a second to think before allowing a smirk to grace his dry lips.

"I'm impressed, that you just used red herring correctly."

" _Your condescension knows no bounds Prophet."_

"A red herring he might be but it's a step in the right direction that we can't let pass, especially if Nygma is involved." Damian replied.

" _Alright I'll take a look."_

"Start at his company."

* * *

Damian sat back in his seat, satisfied that they were making at least some headway in their current case, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he was missing something, a small detail that would not only point them in the right direction, but crack the entire mystery wide open. He stared at the map in front of him and all of the points of interest.

"Riddler, March, and the Court of Owls. What is it?" He asked himself "No, not what, but who. YINN!" He called out.

In a matter of moments Yinn was making his way down the winding stairs and towards Damian, who was anxiously waiting for him.

"Yes, Master Wa…."

"The note!" he interrupted "The note you found in the car that day. The note that said: WHO? Where were we that day?"

"At the marketplace, on Spring Avenue."

* * *

Damian typed in the address on the map of Neo-Gotham City and once it was in, there was a pattern that emerged that put everything into perspective. He made the bat-computer trace a line around all of the stash houses, as well as the kidnapped hackers and finally the observatory and when the giant question mark appeared, staring him in the face.

"Son of a bitch!" Damian exclaimed.

He did a quick search on the computer and he pulled up the address where the dot was located and he found Lincoln March's sky loft.

"McGinnis."

" _What is it?"_ Batman asked.

"Forget Lincoln's building. I want you to go directly to his home address. I'm sending it to you now. And be careful."

* * *

 **In the Air**

Batman pushed on the controls making the batmobile go faster through the air, plowing through the thick falling snow.

* * *

 **Few minutes later- Lincoln March Sky Loft**

Batman silently landed on the balcony and he slipped in through the open balcony doors and was immediately greeted to the sight of a bleeding Lincoln March stumbling towards him.

He had several blades protruding from his body and there was blood running down his face.

"H-Help me." He said before collapsing to the ground.

* * *

Batman took a step forward however he spotted the gleam of metal flying towards him and so he tucked his head and rolled forward. The blade narrowly missed his forehead. He looked up to see two Court of Owl talons descending from up above and directly upon him.

Batman used his fins to ward off the quick slashes from the talon's swords that were poised to separate his head from his shoulders. He brought his arms downward and locked both swords together before jerking to the right and yanking the weapons from their hands. He kicked one in the chest and the grabbed the other and pulled him in for a vicious head-butt that cracked the lens on the owl like goggles that the Talon in front of him wore.

* * *

Batman hoisted the Talon over his head and tossed him into the group of charging Talons.

" _GET LINCOLN AND GET OUT OF THERE!"_ Prophet shouted over the communication line.

"I can take these guys." Batman returned as he spun around and kicked the Talon to his left in the face.

The vision in his visor suddenly went to detective mode, it jarred him for a moment but it was cleared up as he saw several hazy images of approaching Talons rushing up the stairs, descending on the roof and climbing up the side of the building. It was a swarm of Talons and they all were heading right for him.

"Where the heck are they coming from?"

" _I'm working on that now, but you need to get out of there with Lincoln so we can ask him some questions. And you need…"_

 **SCREEEEEEEEEEEE!**

* * *

"AHHHH!" Batman shouted as a loud feedback echoed in his ears.

" _Ah Ah Ah no more cheating from the peanut gallery."_ Came the Riddler's voice over the private communication line.

Batman quickly perked up at the foreign voice in his ear.

"Who is this?"

" _A fair question which leads to another question and more questions but perhaps the most important question is who are you?_ "

Batman's vision returned and he could see the talons regrouping for another attack as well as dozen of talons descending from the roof to the balcony and entering the penthouse. He gritted his teeth hit the button in the center of his belt.

* * *

 **Outside**

The Batmobile received the signal and instantly began to lower down from its hidden spot in the clouds. The sleek machine uncloaked itself as it lined up with Lincoln's Penthouse.

The high-beams switched on, shining a bright light upon the swarm of talons. The sensors in the vehicle locked onto as many as it could and opened fire with non-lethal suppressing ammunition.

Batman punched a talon in the face as he maneuvered through the rapid fire from the Batmobile. He dropped down and grabbed Lincoln and then curled his feet and flew towards the Batmobile.

Batman landed on the vehicle and the top slid open. He carefully slid Lincoln inside first and secured him to his seat.

* * *

The Dark Knight was about to hop in when he was tackled from behind by a large Talon, the two of them tumbled over the side and went falling through the air.

"Close!" He shouted and the top slid closed leaving him on the outside to deal with the Talon that had him in a death grip. He chopped the fiend's wrist breaking the grip and delivered a solid uppercut that knocked him for a loop. Batman managed to get himself a small amount of space before the other Talons caught up to them in mid-air and tackled him. One of them grabbed him around the neck.

' _Riddle me this Bat-fake. I am combustible by nature and once I'm set off everyone comes with me, what am I?'_

Batman grunted as he felt a punch across the jaw from one of the Talons.

" _Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock Bat-fake. Do you give up? I'm a bomb!"_

Batman jerked his backwards slamming it into he face of the talon that had his arm around his neck. The grip loosened giving him enough time to break free, just as the Talon detonated.

 **KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!**

* * *

The force of the explosion damaged one of his recently repaired wings and the thrusters in his boots which threw him off course and sent him spiraling further downward through the air. The ground came closer and closer and at the last possible second Batman managed to right himself and fire a grappling hook from his wrist. He swung in a wide arc narrowly missing the ground however his line was cut from a Talon dagger which sent him barreling to the snowy ground and into some trash cans.

"Oof." He grunted from the force.

* * *

The Dark Knight fought his way to his feet but as he stood up a dozen Court of Owls Talons landed on the ground surrounding him. They charged. Batman defended himself as best as he could but there were too many. He blocked two attacks however three more were there and they connected. He felt a solid blow to his stomach followed by a knee to the chin. He stumbled back and then spun around and kicked the Talon that attacked him in the face. Batman felt something hit him in the back and before he could determine what it was he felt a subtle surge of energy flood through him and suddenly his armor locked, which prevented him from moving.

The ground behind him shook as a the hulking Talon landed behind him. The enforcer swung both his metal clad fists and cracked Batman in the back of the head knocking him out.

* * *

' _B-Batman….c-can you….'_ Came Damian's gargled voice through the comms line but there was no response from him, _"B-B-Batman!'_

" _I said no help from the Peanut Gallery!"_ The Riddler shouted over the line _"The elder Wayne never needed any help and so his replacement shouldn't either. I never got the chance to beat him…he regrettably was my greatest challenge and he bested me at every turn but fortune smiles. I have a second chance at victory, and by one way or the other I will defeat the Batman. So now my minions bring him to me, so the real game of riddles can begin._ "

* * *

 **End Chapter: Read and Review: Hey readers it's me Nomad88 back again with the closing comments. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, which I know is kinda late. I know, I know. I've already gotten several PM's from some concerned readers and I thank you.**

 **I promise I have not abandoned this story or any of my other stories. I'm just stretched a bit thin at the moment. I have to say 2016 has been a very busy year for me which is a good thing.**

 **Anyway, please Read and Review and I will try my best to get the next chapter out as quick as possible. This is Nomad88 saying later…..**

* * *

 **Next up: The Court of Owls part 3**

 **Summary: The Court of Owls take over Neo-Gotham City. Batman is trapped in a Game of Riddles. Max makes a move. Dick and Brian take a road trip. Be there!**


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